The many talents of Fidelis Okoro

Apart from his literary pedigree, Fidelis has his name on two music albums and two Nollywood films. “Saved by Sin”, featuring the likes of Pete Edochie was his first. The second will be released shortly. He seems to be a master of all trades but his first love shone through – it is literature. He […]

Apart from his literary pedigree, Fidelis has his name on two music albums and two Nollywood films. “Saved by Sin”, featuring the likes of Pete Edochie was his first. The second will be released shortly.

He seems to be a master of all trades but his first love shone through – it is literature. He said he started writing very early after being captivated by folklores spun by his grandmother.

“I started reading very early. While others were playing I was reading and I found out that I had a literary tradition when my grandmother will tell me stories about the elephant, the tortoise and the hare. This inspired my interest in the art and later my readings,” he said.

He was further encouraged by his peers who would read his early writings and marvel at it. That, he said, made him believe it was a gift he had and started to live the life.

“I started writing plays as early as secondary school, poetry as early as my first year in the university. The novel and short stories came thereafter. I discovered my gift and started practicing it,” he said.

In-between teaching English at UNN, he has penned “Quagmire” (a play) “Cracking the Shell” (a novel) among several others. Some of his literary works have given him much fulfilment. He enumerates them:

“The first was being shortlisted for the ANA Cadbury Prize for literature in 2006. It was a very beautiful experience, because that was my first poetry collection. And then in 2009, I was shortlisted for ANA Jacaranda Prize for my second novel and this year I was shortlisted for ANA NNDC Prize for drama.”

In a literary terrain brimming with books from numerous budding and established writers, Fidelis feels confident that Nigerian literature is on the rise because the country has a lot of stories to tell.

“Writers are both the creatures and creators of the environment,” he said adding that the Nigerian environment is fertile for nurturing talents. He is also delighted by the number of women in the writing business.

Going musically gaga

As an undergraduate in Nsukka in the 1990s, Fidelis cut the perfect figure of the “triangular student” – running from lecture halls to the library and to the hostel. That effort paid off as he was crowned the best graduating student in his department. He was retained as a lecturer after his youth service.

For a renowned bookaholic, it came as a surprise to many when in 2004; Fidelis launched a music album, “Kabaleka”. But he said it was a talent that has been latent in him since his early years.

“From childhood, I discovered I could sing but I didn’t have my album until I got my masters. I could convert the children’s reader to songs,” he said. There was music in his genes as his father was in a band at some time and his mother was in a choir.

The album was a “huge success” and this prompted him to launch a second in 2008. It was titled “Call on Me.” Listening to the songs on this album and looking at the modest man, it is hard to believe that this quiet man has a single musical bone in him. If there is anything a musician should look like, Fidelis is not it.

“Fidelis has joined the mad people!” UNN’s head of music department had declared at his first album launch. Fidelis looked very sane and smart in his black suit and speckled tie. He is however unhappy with the reputation musicians in the country have earned for themselves.

“People sing about rotten things, wear bad things to concert, divorce their wives, divorce their husbands, quarrel with everybody, you find people singing about madness and making it sound as if it’s a good thing” he said. He is determined to change this. His lyrics are rich with rhythm and wisdom, his little song is very poetic.

“I will spend the whole of my life proving people with this notion wrong. Music is a good gift and should not be allowed only in the hands of those who are misusing it,” Fidelis affirmed.

“Roll tape…action!”

When he realised that many are not being reached by the messages in books and music because they prefer Nollywood films, Fidelis decided to make a foray into the sector.

“I needed to reach a larger audience and the popular media now is film,” he said. He launched out as a producer and director. But he started directing plays in his days as at the University of Calabar, immediately after graduation. Realising that many people are hampered from going to theatres to watch plays, he decided to take the message right into their homes.

“Saved by Sin” the first, focuses on HIV/AIDS. His take on it is contrary to the ABC slogan being preached globally. He feels that the C nullifies the A and B in the AIDS fight. He feels that playing down the 20% failure rate of condoms is hypocritical and chose to emphasize chastity and faithfulness instead.

He points at finance as the biggest problem in the film industry and the attitude of marketers who insist on having “market faces” in a film before they take the movie on. These “market faces” – the Pete Edochies, the Genevieves, the Omotolas and Nkem Owohs have to be paid a lot to bring their faces on set.

Left, right and centre

What motivates Fidelis’ myriad talent?

“I feel very strongly about things and anything I feel very strongly about, I write about it, I sing about or I make a video about it,” he said.

But he is only one man and one wonders if he tackles them, as well as lecturing, all at once.

“I don’t do all at the same time. Once I am prompted, I can write non-stop until I make sure I finish the work, when I have to teach, I go to teach, when I have to research, I go to research”, he concluded.

Perhaps the recent entertainment stimulus package announced by Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan would take some worry off Fidelis’ fully loaded mind. For now, he prefers to trudge on and see.